


i've got you (by my side)

by CallofTheCurlew



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Hospital, M/M, Mention of vomit but no actual vomit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-25 03:11:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16653196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallofTheCurlew/pseuds/CallofTheCurlew
Summary: Thewrongversion of events that lead to Phil being in the hospital. (written before the video was posted :( )





	i've got you (by my side)

Phil is face-down on the carpet, and for a moment Dan can’t breathe.

Time isn’t real, and Dan is no longer thinking. He moves to Phil’s side in a blur, rolling him over and calling his name. In his own ears he sounds frantic, but he has no control over the pitch of his voice right now. Not when Phil was upright a second ago, laughing and smiling, albeit looking a little pale.

He’s breathing, at least. Dan’s panic hasn’t spiralled so far into chaos that he hasn’t taken note of that, and something in the back of his brain reminds him to roll Phil onto his side. A moment later that he remembers it came from the video he did with PJ, all those years ago: The Pushover. He’s pretty sure that it’s actually for drunk people choking on their own vomit, but he doesn-

Phil’s eyes shoot open and he sucks in a deep breath, like he’s just come up from underwater. His eyes don’t focus for a moment, and he’s quick to roll onto his back.

“Phil?” Dan asks quietly, his heart still ricocheting around his chest.

Phil only replies with a noise, and Dan watches his jaw clench which is the telltale sign of one thing.

“Are you gonna be sick?” Dan asks, and maybe he’s panicking a bit more about that now instead, “Stay, I’ll get you a bucket.”

He races downstairs to their storage closet, wrestles with a mop and a broom as he frees the bucket from their clutches. He prays Phil hasn’t just puked all over the lounge room floor. Maybe carpet is never a good idea. It’s clearly a design flaw he’ll be making note of for later.

Luckily Phil hasn’t thrown up and is instead staring at the ceiling. Dan kneels beside him, putting the bucket next to Phil’s hand so he can grab it if he needs to.

“Hey,”

Phil grunts again and now that the initial panic has subsided, Dan is starting to _worry._ Phil’s skin is pale, almost green, and his eyes haven’t opened since he fainted.

“Did you hit your head when you fell?” Dan asks quietly, gentle hands in Phil’s hair.

“Imdizzyitsspinning,”

Dan frowns, but he doesn’t want to press on Phil’s head just in case he triggers the inevitable vomiting.

“Does your head hurt, or is it just spinning?”

“Spins. The whole world,” Phil says, not answering the question.

“Is it a migraine?”

“No.”

Dan’s stumped, and nervous, and it’s only then he realises how _hot_ Phil’s head is under his fingers. He moves his hands to his forehead, and he’s _burning_.

“Oh, Phil, jesus. How long have you had a fever?” he asks, getting to his feet and rushing to the kitchen. He struggles for a second to find the washcloths, wetting one and ringing it out when he finally finds one.

Phil shivers when Dan gently places the folded cloth over his forehead, but it’s probably a welcome relief.

“Talk to me. What’s going on,” Dan pleads softly, “Should we go to A&E?”

He’s so quiet and still that Dan is worried he’s fainted again, and he puts a hand on his shoulder, “Phil?”

“Mm.”

“Okay, I can’t- I’m calling an ambulance.” Dan finds his mobile somewhere discarded on a counter. Phil doesn’t protest, so Dan feels better as he calls.

The woman on the end of the line is professional and calm when she greets Dan, but that doesn’t help his anxiety. He takes a deep breath and tries to sound calm and put together.

“Hello, um, my friend’s passed out, and he’s got a huge fever, and I’m not sure if he needs to come in but we don’t drive, so-”

“Alright, slow down sweetheart,”

Ah. Apparently he did a bad job of sounding calm.

“Sorry,” he whispers, “Um, my friend, he’s fainted.”

“How long ago?”

“A few minutes, maybe five? He’s awake now, but he’s-”

“Is he responsive?”

“Kind of? He hasn’t said much, but he’s dizzy and he’s really pale, and he’s burning up.”

“Alright, I think it’s important that we get your friend checked out, so I’m going to send an ambulance, okay?”

“Okay,” Dan said, rattling off his address. She probably already knew - they’re clever like that. “Is there anything I can do?”

“Just keep talking to him, keep him awake. The paramedics will take over when they get there. Has he vomited at all?”

“No. He’s very green though, and I think he wants to.”

“Roll him onto his side if he does, and try and keep his airways clear,” she advises, and Dan can’t help his smile. He knew. He’s good.

“I will. Thank you.”

With that sorted, Dan feels better.  

“The ambulance is coming,” he tells Phil, who just moans at him again, “Do you think you can sit up? I- we have a lot of stairs. And… getting a stretcher up them…”

He lets Phil think about it as he goes downstairs to unlock the door. When he returns (slightly out of breath), Phil hasn’t moved.

“I feel like shit.”

It’s a complete sentence, unmarred by slurring, and even that makes Dan feel better.

“Yeah, you look like it too,” he says with a laugh, but it’s not a comfortable one,  “Are you gonna throw up?”

“Don’t think so. I just- it’s still spinning.”

“What’s wrong? Is it just your head?”

“Mm, my ear, maybe?” he murmurs.

Phil is quiet for a few moments, before he braces himself on the floor. He struggles to sit up, and Dan plunks himself next to Phil, letting the other man lean against him.

“Oh god,” Phil murmurs, and he grabs the bucket, clutching it with white knuckles.

Dan prepares himself for the sound of Phil retching, but luckily it doesn’t come.  

There’s a knock on the door but Dan doesn’t want to get up and dislodge Phil, so he calls for them to come in. He didn’t even know it was possible to hear them from outside, but two people - a man and a woman in high-vis over blue uniforms - open the door and come up the stairs.

Dan gives them a weak smile, glancing at Phil. He’s slumped forwards over himself but is still leaning back on Dan, hands covering his eyes.

“Hi,” Dan says softly, unsure of the protocol.

The woman - Carly, according to her nametag - immediately moves to Phil’s side, and she speaks to him in a low voice. Phil grunts and speaks back, but he must be back to feeling horrible because it’s very monosyllabic, and even though Dan is pressed up against him, he can barely hear.

Dan repeats his story for the other paramedic - Joey -  and before long they’re hauling Phil up. It’s awful, watching it happen. Dan feels helpless, and there’s nothing he can do - he simply grabs a few things he knows they’ll need - their phones, wallets with ID for both of them, a charger, house keys. He blows out the candles they have scattered around the house while the three of them make the slow trip downstairs. When they reach the bottom, Dan follows and locks the door behind them.

They’ve got a stretcher assembled there, and the paramedics help Phil onto it. He’s back to being green and he isn’t talking anymore, his eyes squeezed tightly shut.

“You alright mate?” Dan murmurs, and Phil only whines softly.

"Dan..." he whined softly, reaching out for him. 

Dan takes his hand, squeezing gently, "I've got you. It's gonna be okay." 

The paramedics wheel him into the ambulance, inviting Dan to sit on the side. Joey heads to the front to drive, while Carly stays in the back with Phil. She starts working, taking Phil’s blood pressure and temperature with practiced efficiency. Dan's kind of embarrassed at their display of affection, but really, he wonders how much of a patient and of them that Carly actually sees in this moment. Will she remember Phil’s face tomorrow, after she unwraps the blood pressure sleeve from her thirtieth patient of the day. Will she remember the two awkward men reassuring each other?  

Probably not. They’re but a moment of time in her busy days. They won’t mean anything by the time her next call comes around. It’s a terrifying thought, how they can mean so little to one person and so much to the next. They have no impact on her, and yet she’s helping them through this tough time.

Dan’s too far into his own thoughts and they reach A&E sooner than he thought they would. Phil has been replying to Carly’s questions, so luckily Dan didn’t have to pay much attention. He just kept a hand on Phil, a reminder that he was there for him.

They roll the stretcher out with Phil still on it, and from there on it’s a little bit of a blur. The paramedics hand Phil over to nurses instead, and Dan just follows through the endless white corridors, and then suddenly they’re in a room where Phil is getting transferred to a bed. He looks more embarrassed, instead of sick now, so Dan knows he must be feeling a little better.

“Hang tight love, we’ll be back soon,”

Dan didn’t catch her name but this nurse seems nice. He plants himself in the chair next to Phil’s bed and gives him a weak smile.

“Some night, hey,” he says with an uncomfortable laugh.

Phil is laying back against the pillows, staring at the ceiling again.

“Hey.”

His eyes flicker to Dan’s and he offers his own smile, “Hi.”

“What’s wrong? What do you need?”

“Kinda scared. Just wanna feel better…”

It breaks Dan’s heart and he bites his lower lip, shifting closer to reach for his hand, squeezing it gently, “Is everything still spinning?”

“Less now. It’s- there’s waves of- you know, vertigo. Like a migraine but kind of better and worse at the same time.”

“You mentioned your ear…”

“Yeah, it’s been, um, sore, the last few days.”

“You never said anything.”

Phil shrugs, “Didn’t seem relevant.”

“Until you’re face-down on the carpet, unresponsive?”

Phil shrugs, and he goes green as another wave seems to pass over him, “Ugh.”

“It’s fine. We’re at the hospital. They’ll fix you.” Dan feels bad about discharging the duty onto them but there’s literally nothing else he can do.

Phil nods, closing his eyes again and Dan watches his jaw clenching and unclenching.

“Maybe vomiting will help?” Dan asked softly, “Remember when we used to get so drunk the only fix was to throw up and then keep drinking?”

Phil managed a smile at that, “That was once,” he murmured, resting an arm over his eyes.

“It worked, didn’t it? I did it heaps when I was a teenager.”

“Yeah… my uni friends and I used to do it too.”

Dan isn’t as worried anymore. Whatever this is - it’s not really a problem, now that the rational side of his brain has taken over. Nobody has come to check Phil out yet, which means his symptoms aren’t life-threatening, and that makes Dan feel tremendously better.

 

It’s almost an hour later when the nurse finally returns, and by that time Phil is almost restless.

“Sorry about that,” she smiles happily, and Dan forgets that he’s been waiting here for an hour already. He’s bored, but luckily there was an outlet for them both to charge their phones, and so that hour has been filled with nothing but mindless apps and random wiki facts.

The usual tests go on, and they ask for urine samples as well, which has Dan giggling at a disgruntled looking Phil.

It’s standard hospital stuff; they sit Phil in a chair and take his blood pressure, listen to his heart, look in his mouth and ears, but by now Phil actually feels rather good. According to the thermometer, he’s still got a temperature, but it’s nothing like it was before. Phil looks like he just wants to go home.

“Alright, that’s all we need from you. Once we get the test results back, one of the doctors will come and have a chat, okay?”

“Can we go home, in the meantime?” Dan pipes up, because he knows Phil won't ask, but she shakes her head.

“With fainting and loss of consciousness, it’s best we identify the problem while he’s here. Hopefully it won’t take too long.”

Only after she leaves the room does Dan groan quietly, “Ugh.”

“It’s not too bad,” Phil said gently. He’s starting to look more like himself now; eyes a little brighter, and the green has completely faded.

“It’s boring,” Dan complains, but he’s not serious about it.

Phil seems to take it the wrong way, “You can go, if you want. I don’t mind. You don’t have to stay. I’ll be alright.”

There’s too many sentences all saying the same thing, which is a telltale Phil quirk that tells Dan that he’s genuinely guilty. Which, of course, creates Dan’s own guilt for making Phil feel like he was a burden.

“No,” Dan says patiently, “I’m staying.”

“Are you sure?”

“Completely. I’d rather sit in this room with you than sit at home alone.”

Phil manages a small smile, and Dan feels better, leaning back in his chair. They’re back on their phones before too long, until Phil starts rubbing at his ear, uncomfortable. By the fifth time he does it, Dan looks up.

“Hurting again?”

He nods sheepishly, and he’s starting to look out of it again. He’s put down his phone, staring up at the ceiling again.

“Should I call someone?”

Phil shakes his head, but it’s hard to tell the difference between what Phil needs and what Phil wants. Dan knows that even when he’s sick, he doesn’t want to cause a fuss.

Luckily, they don’t have to wait long before one of the doctors returns. He’s grim faced and Dan’s stomach plummets. It’s bad. It has to be bad. Cancer, or some illness that’s going to render him sick and ill for the rest of his life. Dan vows then to be the best carer. He’ll look after Phil-

“It’s an inner ear infection.”

Dan’s panic falls flat. Grim-faced is this doctor’s default, it seems, and not an indication of news of any sort.

“Oh, it _was_ my ear…”

Dan half-listens to the rest of their conversation, mostly just stunned at the complete tailspin he went into. He jumped to the worst possible conclusion in a matter of seconds, preparing for this alternate reality. It's not the subject matter that's confused him - it's just how quickly he was ready to take it on. 

The doctor has a script for antibiotics and a request to go and see his doctor in a week, once the antibiotics have run their course. With that, they’re promptly escorted back to the waiting room, but Dan is still reeling.

“All that for an ear infection.”

Phil looks guilty again, “Sorry. Guess I should’ve mentioned it earlier, but it didn’t feel that bad.”

“No, no, I’m not complaining about the time. Whatever, it’s been fine. I’m just surprised that a little ear infection could fuck you up so badly.”

“Hey,” Phil grins, “It’s not little. It’s an _infection._ I was proper sick.”

“You looked it. Thought you were going to hurl all over the carpet.”

Now that Phil’s fine, they can laugh. He even looks better, knowing what it is.

“Thanks for keeping me company,” Phil says softly, nudging him a little as they leave the hospital.

Dan’s on his phone, ordering then an Uber to take them home, but he looks up to give Phil a gentle smile. Only his dork of a boyfriend would thank him for being around. He’s terribly fond of him, and thinking for even a second that he could be properly sick has him emotionally drained.

“You know it’s not a problem. You don’t have to thank me.”

Phil glances over at him. He looks tired and as drained as Dan feels, even though it’s only been a few hours, but he smiles anyway. Dan would kiss him, if they weren’t standing outside of a hospital. He’ll save it for when they get home.

“Hey Dan,” Phil murmurs softly.

“Hm?”

“Thank you.”  

**Author's Note:**

> Reblog [this fic](https://callofthecurlew.tumblr.com/post/180217759465/ive-got-you-by-my-side) on Tumblr?  
> 


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